Stay
by khfan12
Summary: "Don't tell me you're not safe, it sounds like a dare to me." Nora Valkyrie, a huntress in training. Roman Torchwick, a wanted criminal. She didn't expect to ever meet him and fall in love; no, that was never planned. Nora/Roman (Candy Cane)
1. 01: Meeting Her

**Okay, so first off; hey guys! I've finally managed to start writing out/uploading this RWBY fanfiction that I've been working on for a little bit over a year now; haha.  
** **So. For a little while I had roleplayed as Miss Nora Valkyrie on tumblr and, well, I had kind of already shipped this ship, but thanks to a fellow RWBY roleplayer (who roleplayed as Roman Torchwick) it kind of developed a life of it's own. Now; if you know what two tumblr accounts I'm talking about, you might possibly know what's in store for our two lovely main characters.  
However; even though I'm basing a lot of inspiration on the roleplays I had with said person/buddy of mine, there will be some slight changes. Like for one thing, how the two met will be the first idea I had for that (since it kind of has to do with a little running thing that'll be in this story) but I will have a fair amount of similarities in this story.  
As for updates, I'll try to keep them steady for this fanfic; but we'll have to wait and see how it goes; as well as how well this story in general is going to be recieved.**

 **For now though; I hope you guys enjoy the first chapter of "Stay".  
Point of views will possibly change; however, Nora is easier for me to write so there is a chance that a majority of the story will be from her point of view.  
**

 **A quick important note about the title: It's influenced by the song "Stay" by House of Heroes; and will definitely play a part in the story (as well as several other songs)**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or it's characters. I do, however, claim ownership of this fanfiction.**

* * *

Chapter 01: Meeting Her

* * *

 _sometime in the future_

 _He felt her breath on his neck as her hands tangled into his hair as he pressed his lips to her neck. She let out a low squeak when he had moved; simply moving so that she was still sitting on his lap. He looked at her and she smiled at him; pressing a rough kiss onto his lips._

 _When she pulled away, he softly murmured her name; a smirk on his face as she noticably shivered. Her turquoise eyes looked him over; searching his face for sincerity after hearing him state those three words._

 _He nodded and her eyes shone; before she closed them and pressed her lips to his._

 _She then pulled out of the kiss; whispering the phrase back to him._

 _"I love you too, Roman Torchwick."_

* * *

 _Present Day - Several months before_

Roman Torchwick let out a breath as he looked at the female on the ground in front of him. She was short; even while she was recovering from being knocked over, Roman could tell that she was short. Her short orangey-red hair was about chin length; sticking out in multiple directions at the bottom, and her eyes were turquoise blue. Fairly notable to him; maybe in a different situation he'd have appreciated them more; but right now, however...

"Watch where you're going!" she snapped; her face switching between sadness and frustration.

It was then that Roman had noticed the still fresh tearstreaks that were on her face. She had quite obviously been crying before Roman had bumped into her; and if anything, this probably made her day worse.

"Sorry about that shortie. Won't happen again." Roman stated; proceeding to hold his hand out to the girl. "Need a hand?"

The girls' eyes proceeded to narrow. "You make a short joke, and then offer to help me up? Not very gentlemanly of you." she stated with a scoff. Roman rolled his eyes. "Are you going to accept the hand I'm offering you, or not?"

The girl grabbed his hand and let out a low 'oof' as he pulled her up. "Now then, girlie; care to tell me why you were crying? It's fairly obvious that you were." Roman stated. The girl let out a breath; mumbling something before she turned away from him. "It's...kind of a stupid reason, so you don't need to worry about it." she stated softly.

Roman frowned. "Now come on. I wouldn't feel right as a gentleman if I walked away from an upset girl without doing what I could to make her smile. Besides; this is the side of town a girl like you shouldn't be in." he stated. The girl looked at him; searching his face to see whether he was serious or not. She let out a breath. "...I got in a big fight with my older brother, okay? It's no big deal, I'll get over it; And I can handle myself. You don't need to worry about me." she said, smiling. She then looked around and let out a giggle.

"Hey, do you want to get a cup of coffee? My treat."

Roman blinked; looking at the shorter girl in slight surprise; before quickly recovering and smiling. "Who am I to turn down an invitation from a pretty girl like you? Lead the way, girlie." he stated. The girl let out another giggle before she turned towards Roman; fully facing him and sticking her hand out.

"My name's not girlie; it's Nora. Nora Valkyrie."

Roman shook her hand. "Call me Roman."

Nora's face brightened. "Well, Mr. Roman, I've found a small coffee shop on this so called 'wrong side of town' that I really enjoy. We can go there." she stated, before turning around and starting to walk in the same direction that she was walking before. Roman turned and began following her.

"So, how often do you journey to this shop?" he asked. Nora shrugged. "Whenever I feel down or need a pick me up. It's one of my favorite places in this town, after all." she said happily. "Oh really?"

Nora nodded. "It's not like it's an underground crime network or something. And even if it was, I'd still go. After all, what other coffee place can you name that is willing to serve you coffee and pancakes at all hours of the day and or night?"

"I take it you like pancakes?" Roman asked. Nora let out a giggle. "Yup! My best friend Ren is really good at making them; and so is my older brother Nathan, not the one I had the fight with, which was James, he's kind of a jerk. I also have two younger brothers, and since I'm the only girl, I have to try to keep them all in line whenever Nathan isn't home because of work, but then again, James is gone a lot because of his job as well, so it's not like it's not too often that James and I fight...just every other time we see each other. My younger brothers, Simon and Tyler, oh they're great. They're twins, which kind of annoys James because they like to play pranks on him, until he's a complete jerk about it. Then again, it probably wouldn't be so bad if I didn't teach them some pranks before I left for school."

Roman blinked. This girl...is a motormouth. Or, from what he gathered, she could be, mixed with her tending to ramble on about things.

Just what did he get himself into?


	2. 02: Coffee Break

**Holy cow, I did not expect this story to get as much traffic as it did. I will do my best to not dissappoint you all!**

 **A shoutout/thank you to killerxhunter14 and guest for being the first two reviews for this story! Thanks for your input! (**And, in response to what killerxhunter14 said; this pairing kind of started as a crack ship between me and the Torchwick roleplayer and it kind of ended up as on of my main ships for Nora. I hope you enjoy seeing where this goes! c: **)  
**

 **This is kind of an AU, with the events that happen in the show possibly not happening. however, Cinder, Mercury, Emerald and Neo are going to appear for sure. (** Seeing as Neo's in the character tags, haha **) I already know if I were to list all of the differences in between the show and this fic then...well, I guess it would be like, half of the chapter and very spoiler heavy; haha.** **Nora and friends are 18 when this starts (** Ruby being 16 **) since it's starts about a year and a half after they start at Beacon.**

 **Also; for those of you who read the first chapter before I edited it; I accidentally messed up on Nora's older brothers. Nathan is the oldest, who Nora is close to (** and is really good at making pancakes **) and James is the one Nora has a rocky relationship with. I just wanted to make sure you guys knew, so that you weren't confused or anything.**

 **Another quick note in relation to updates for this fanfiction: I'm going to try to keep updates to at least one chapter a week. If something happens (** ex. writers block, unexpected trip somewhere, me busy with work and being too tired to write, etc. **) then updates might run a little late. But I'm making a goal to keep updates steady for this story, seeing as I have a lot to work with B)  
Also, if you want; feel free to vote on the poll on my profile on which of my recently updated fanfictions is your favorite! (**it's me being curious, so you do not have to if you do not want to **)**

 **Anyway; enjoy!**

 **The song for this chapter is "Stupid Grin" by Dragonette.  
(**Listened to that song on loop when I worked on the second half of this chapter, haha **)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or it's characters.**

* * *

Chapter 02: Coffee Break

* * *

 _Two Weeks later_

Nora held her cup of coffee in her hands and took a sip of it. She looked at Roman in front of her, who was watching her, curiosity in his gaze. "So, Bubblegum. Why'd you call me out here again?" he asked; referring to the coffee shop that the two had gotten coffee at a week ago; when they had first met.

Strangely enough, the pair had found themselves meeting up at least four times since then; and have slowly gotten to know each other. At least on Nora's end. Roman however, wasn't so willing to talk about himself. Nora didn't mind, though. She enjoyed talking about her lovely brothers (including James the jerk) and how awesome her friends were.

But she wanted to change that.

A smile made it's way onto Nora's face and she let out a giggle. "What, can't a girl ask a guy to hang out without any ulterior motive whatsoever?" she asked playfully. She watched as a smile cracked onto Roman's face at her comment. "No, but I just thought...ah, nevermind." he stated. "That's not very gently-manly of you, Mr. Roman."

At that, Roman let out a laugh and Nora did as well.

"Well then, I guess I have nothing to worry about, right?" he asked, and Nora's smile grew wider. "Well...what if I told you that you might have possibly been right?" she asked. Roman raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh? Then what do you want?" he asked. "Other than a coffee date, I was just wondering something." she stated, watching as he took a drink of his coffee.

"Why does a criminal like you keep agreeing to coffee dates with a girl like me?"

At that, Roman had been sent into a coughing fit, and Nora knew she had caught him off-guard; even if only a little bit.

"Well, that was unexpected, bubblegum." Roman stated. Nora giggled. "Well, I've been known for being just a little bit spontaneous, you know." she stated happily. Roman chuckled. "Well then, I guess I should answer, since I'm feeling...generous, I should say."

Nora took a drink of her own coffee and then smiled. "I guess the simplest way of putting it would be...you interest me, bubblegum." Roman stated, making Nora raise an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

Roman rested his elbows on the table and leaned closer towards Nora; making her lean forward as well. "Now then. Why did you pretend like you didn't know about me?" he asked. Nora snorted. "Really? You think I pretended that I didn't know about you? Come on, Roman. Give me a little more credit than that."

Roman smirked as she continued. "I knew it was you, yes. Your face is on wanted posters all over on the supposed 'right side of town', as well as your face being shown on the news whenever you commit a crime. You're not the most eloquent of, ah, uh, what's the word? Or I mean, you're not the most inconspicuous of criminals out there." Nora stated. "Well, I have a question for you, Bubblegum." Roman stated. "Why do you keep purposely bumping into me whenever you get the chance?"

Nora let out a laugh, that eventually turned into a giggle and she smirked. "Because Roman. You...'interest' me, as well."

"Even though I'm a criminal?"

"If anything, that makes you even more interesting, you know."

* * *

Before they had known it; it had gotten dark outside. Somewhere during their conversation, they had gotten something to eat from the same coffee place; which of course, resulted in the two having an arguement over who would pay for the food; resulting in Nora winning and covering the bill herself.

Roman found himself grumbling about how stubborn Nora was, and she beamed happily at the comment. He had insisted on walking her back to where she'd be meeting her friends for the shuttle back to Beacon and saying goodbye in the shadows; seeing how this was the latest one of their hangout sessions had gone.

"Bubblegum, you said you had four brothers, correct?" Roman asked, watching as Nora nodded. "Yup." she stated; popping the 'p' loudly. "What about your parents? I don't think you've told me about them." Roman stated cautiously. Nora let out a chuckle. "Oh them? They're gone. They were killed back when I was fourteen. It's been my brothers and I since then." Nora stated; her smile still on her face.

Roman frowned. "So, that left your older brothers to care for you and your younger brothers?" he asked. Nora nodded. "Nathan had just graduated from Beacon when it happened, and James was training to be a police officer. Nathan wanted to move all of us to Vale so that we'd either be safer, or so that he could keep track of us a little bit better. I stayed back in the village with Ren's family, and visited my brothers whenever I could. It was just...difficult to be around James after that. We started fighting more than normal after that. Since then, our relationship has been kind of rocky. Ren and I have been attending Beacon for about a year and a half now, and I still occasionally visit my brothers...but James and I fight; a lot. That makes it hard to be there when he's there. I normally visit whenever he's busy with his job as a police officer."

Roman let out a sigh. "So here you are, hanging out with a wanted criminal, with your older brother being a police officer?" he asked. Nora chuckled. "Oh Roman, you make it sound like that's a bad thing!" Nora stated happily. Roman stopped walking and rubbed his temples. "Nora, what if he finds out about us meeting?"

Nora snorted. "Don't be such a worrywart. He's not going to find out, you'll be fine. It's not like I'm going to run over to him and say; Hey brother, guess what? I've befriended a criminal and we meet up for coffee!" Nora paused and scoffed. "I don't think he'd be too happy knowing that I'm friends with you, so no, I don't plan to tell him. I may have told Nathan that I've made a new friend, but don't worry, I've purposely avoided telling him your name."

Roman opened his mouth to reply, but he was interrupted by footsteps rushing towards them. By the time he had looked, someone was attempting to grab Nora. Before he could react, they grabbed onto her wrist.

Nora however, had spun her arm; turning to face the man who had attempted to grab her and she, in turn, grabbed onto his arm and flipped him over. Roman watched in slight awe as the man hit the ground and watched as Nora kicked him in the stomach and the man curled up in pain.

Nora grinned at Roman. "I told you I was fine. I'm a huntress in training, after all."

At that moment, Roman Torchwick found himself starting to feel a sort of attraction towards Nora Valkyrie.

And he didn't mind it at all.


End file.
